The Heimlich Validation

If I asked you to identify Henry Heimlich, you might say he’s the guy who invented a life-saving technique called the Heimlich Manouver. And you’d be right. But did you also know that he’s not popular in the science world? For one thing, who puts their own name on something that saves lives? If that was common, a defibrillator would be known as Johnson’s Chest Paddles. 

At a dinner party on Saturday night, the host’s girlfriend choked on a piece of steak and he sprang into action. He did everything right: asked her if she was choking, turned her around and used an abdominal thrust – the Heimlich – to dislodge the obstruction. It was frightening and time slowed down as she briefly struggled to breathe. Naturally, because it’s just how we are, we spent the rest of the evening teasing her about doing it on purpose to get attention. But we were all extremely relieved, as you can imagine.

Heimlich’s manouver works, but the man is now a bit of a pariah. After spreading details of his discovery far and wide, and saving countless lives, he’s now viewed with skepticism because of the Yale study he conducted that proved abdominal thrusts were superior to back slaps for dislodging objects in the the upper airway. It came to light that his foundation partially funded the study and the American Medical Association claims Heimlich, now 96, “overpowered science” in 1974 to further his own quest for fame. His own son claims Henry’s studies were frauds, all meant to make his Dad famous.

Heimlich also touted his technique for saving drowning victims (debunked) and those experiencing asthma attacks (not proven). HIs apparent greed for noteriety hurt his credibility even more. The American Red Cross now recommends five back slaps followed by thrusts for conscious choking victims and chest thrusts for unconscious ones. And they don’t use the name Heimlich, even though it’s imprinted on our brains.

Many years ago, my beloved dog Lee Roy choked on a piece of kibble. Again, time slowed down as I found the sweet spot below his rib cage, clasped my hands into a ball, and pushed. The kibble flew out of his mouth and landed across the room, where he immediately ran and gobbled it up. Only I experienced post-incident stress that time. But the technique worked and I’ve seen and heard of it being successful many times since then. Whatever Heimlich is – a fame hog, a junk scientist, or a well meaning self-marketer – his name still has instant recognition and an understanding of what needs to be done. It doesn’t matter what you call it, as long as whoever you’re helping is able to breathe again.